Monday, October 20, 2014

Shoplifting from American Apparel

“Shoplifting from American Apparel,” was not what I expected. Before I started to read the book I was kind of exited because I actually love American apparel, I shop there very often. After actually reading it I was greatly disappointed because it was not at all what I expected. I felt like the book was pretty dull and didn’t really go anywhere.  This book emphasizes on the life of the main character Sam. Sam is a writer but we see in the book that he doesn’t spend much time writing. He is a vegan and works at a vegan restaurant. He shoplifts in American Apparel and ends up only doing community service. He lives a pretty simple life working, hanging out with friends and rarely working on his writing.

            He is an NYU graduate, yet has no steady job and just spends his time hanging out with friends. His plans for the future seem to be very unclear, he “lives in the moment” and don’t care what he will do in the future. The book takes place in Manhattan and we see a scene in Central bookings, also in Brooklyn and Atlantic City. He lives in a meaningless world with no aspirations on succeeding in life. Something that caught my attention was when Sam told Ben that he wanted to commit suicide because he was tired of life. This made me feel like Sam was a person to easily give up. I relate to him because I see many people my age having this same issues, they just live in the now and enjoy life before worrying about a future.
            Lin’s writing is similar to Warhol’s and Mohammed’s. Their modern way of writing can be considered contemporary writing. Their writings are art because they express their feelings through words & they don’t have an exact purpose or one main purpose. In class we spoke about postmodernism. Postmodernism puts a mirror on society reflecting the images and symbols used by popular culture.
They write about American culture in different styles and how of things and brands can affect people’s lives. American Apparel is used because the brand is well known in America.

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